The US House panel on the COVID-19 pandemic is sending a criminal referral to the Justice Department against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, alleging he made “criminal perjury” during closed-door testimony in June 2024.
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic On Wednesday, the US Attorney General sent a letter to Merrick Garland accusing the former governor of lying to the panel during his June 11 testimony.
In a filing by the Republican-led committee, Cuomo said he “knowingly and knowingly made materially false statements” to the panel when it was investigating New York’s COVID-19 response. The disclosures stem from exchanges related to the New York State Department of Health’s July 6, 2020, report on nursing home infections and deaths.
The criminal case alleges that Cuomo denied involvement in drafting or reviewing the report during a June 2024 deposition, but those documents contradict his claims. Cuomo also denied discussing a review of the July 6 report, according to the panel, which the documents show. The committee said it asked Cuomo if he knew people outside the health department involved in drafting or editing the opinion, and the former governor said no, and the panel found it untrue.
According to the panel, the documents show handwritten notes in a draft copy of the July 6 report that Cuomo’s former executive assistant testified to. The panel also offered a June 23, 2020, email from a gubernatorial staff aide that said, “Added for Governor’s review of revisions.”
In a statement Tuesday, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi called the subcommittee’s actions a “taxpayer-funded farce.”
Azzopardi released a portion of the transcript of Cuomo’s testimony, saying the former governor said he could not recall whether he had reviewed the July 6 report.
“It’s a joke – the governor said he didn’t remember because he didn’t. The committee lied in their dispatch just as they lied to the public and the press,” Azzopardi said.
In a letter to the subcommittee, Cuomo attorney Rita Galvin asked the subcommittee to share documents surrounding the July 6 report with them to “enable them to refresh their memories.”
Azzopardi said Galvin also filed a DOJ complaint against committee members, accusing them of abusing their authority and colluding for financial gain.
The panel said Cuomo was not under oath during his testimony, but was required to answer questions truthfully to Congress.
The Cuomo administration has come under intense scrutiny for a policy that requires nursing homes to first readmit recovered COVID-19 patients to avoid overcrowding hospitals.
Cuomo came under fire on the topic in a September 2024 subcommittee hearing.
US Representative Elise Stefanik of New York called the directive “deadly”. Brad Wenstrup, Republican of Ohio, who chairs the subcommittee, said it was against federal guidance and the consequences were “dangerous and disastrous.” Republicans have accused Cuomo of a cover-up to hide mistakes that put nursing home residents at risk.
“Governor, you own it. This is your name on the letterhead. Whether you know about it or not, it’s your directive,” said Wenstrup. “You are the leader. The buck stops with you, or at least it should.”
In more than two hours of testimony, Cuomo strongly defended his actions and blamed the former Trump administration for not providing enough testing and personal protective equipment in the early days of the pandemic.
“These are all provocations to blame New York and other states for the federal response,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo’s plan to centralize the pandemic response at the governor’s office has also drawn criticism, including from an independent report 2022 by Governor Kathy Hochul.
“While this report cuts through the political garbage that consumes the nursing home issue and points to how the situation is consistent across the country, it is ludicrous to suggest that this pandemic response be treated the same way as H1N1 or Legionnaires’ outbreaks,” Azzopardi said. June when the report was released.
“We’ve all experienced it, and no rational person can believe that a coordinated centralized response is inferior to decisions made by faceless bureaucrats,” Azzopardi said.
New York has reported nearly 15,000 COVID-19 deaths among long-term care residents, more than the initial figure released. Cuomo said some of the numbers were initially withheld because of concerns about accuracy.
Cuomo was seen as a calming figure in the early months of the pandemic, but his reputation took a nosedive after it was revealed that his administration had released incomplete records of the number of deaths in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Cuomo resigned in August 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, which he has repeatedly denied.